The Lives They Could Have Lived
by StarTrail
Summary: What if Sasuke and Naruto became friendly rivals, not hated enemies? What if Sasuke had a childhood friend, and what if he wasn't the 'last' Uchiha? What if he stayed, when he should have left?...What if Sakura took his place? OC insert, and Alternate Universe, in which Sasuke never went evil, Naruto wasn't alone, and Sakura hasn't turned out the way we expected.


**So this is an idea I got a little over a week ago, and I've been so obsessed with it that I just had to write something! (Even though I've got other ideas for stories that I'm working on, and have been working on for MUCH longer.) So here's the prologue. **

**Mirrors/based on the very beginning of Shippuden...**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own creations.**

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_{"Regardless of warnings, the future doesn't scare me at all. Nothing's like before!"_ **–Hikaru Utada, **_**Simple and Clean**__**.**}_

**_Prologue: Fate's Compromise_**

"Not here." I muttered, closing the door. I turned to the boy standing behind me. "Next one, let's go."

"Damn." He cursed as we ran down the dimly lit corridor, our shadows reflected on the walls, running ahead of us like _bunshin_.

Only a few steps behind him, I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the back of his head, unconsciously watching the way the light seemed to pass through his raven-colored hair. "We'll find her." I told the boy. "Don't worry, Naruto and the Captain are searching somewhere in here as well."

"Why should _you_ care?" The question came out sharp, with enough venom to make a different girl cringe, but I rolled my eyes. _Don't pull that tone with me, mister. I've known you long enough to see right through it. _"I care because you care." I answered simply, truthfully. "And don't forget: she was my friend too. We might not have been on the same team; for very long at least" I paused, muttering the last part to myself slightly, then continued: "But I want her back just as much as you do."

"Hn." Came his characteristic reply.

We stopped momentarily as the hallway forked left and right. "Which way?" I asked my companion. "You wanna split up?"

He paused, thinking for a second. "We should—" Anything the boy was about to say was interrupted as there was the sound of an explosion, and the hallway itself shook from the force.

I locked gazes with my companion, an unspoken question echoing between us:_ What was that?_

"This way!" I turned and bolted down the left corridor, towards the source and sound of the explosion. The sound of heavy breathing faded its way into existence as my teammate caught up with me. I locked eyes with him as we ran side-by-side, then looked ahead and down the hallway as I ran, matching step-for-step the pace of the boy who was the only family I had left.

A rectangle of light appeared in the distance, signaling the end of the corridor. My partner's pace quickened, and he drew farther and farther ahead of me. I could see Naruto and the Captain, as they stood in a crater that didn't seem like it was supposed to be there, looking up at something I couldn't see.

My partner ran out into the light, immediately slowing his pace to a halt as he too gazed up at something. I exited the tunnel, running to stand next to Naruto as I panted; head down, hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath.

"Hello, Mika."

I froze._ That voice...it can't be..._

It was a girl's voice, a familiar voice, one that I had both wished and dreaded to hear. And it was filled with a cold, passive indifference that somehow managed to seem worse than any anger.

I looked up, not even bothering to brush my long hair over my shoulders and behind my back as I squinted, and against the blazing sun I could see the outline of a figure; one who stood imposingly as we all thought of what to say to the one person who we knew that words would never be enough to appease. Then Naruto spoke a name, one name that had haunted all of our memories since that day so long ago.

"S-Sakura-chan…"

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**Reviews are appreciated. I'd like to know if people want me to start on the next chapter.**


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